Why Culture Matters

When I was in my early 20’s I had the opportunity to adventure and explore and experience. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life or what I wanted to study in school. But I knew I wanted to travel. I ended up going to LIU Global College where I was able to travel and receive an education, which was a great combination of structure and spontaneity. 

I look back on that time and so much of what I did I wouldn’t have the guts to do now. There’s something so magical (and dangerous) about the early years of life when our understanding of consequences isn’t fully developed, when fear doesn’t drive as many of our thoughts and decisions. I have no idea who I would be if I hadn’t traveled internationally as a young person. It broadened my understanding of the human experience, of culture, and of global and local systems. 

Defining Culture

Since that time culture has become a fascination of mine and I’ve come to see how it permeates every corner of society. It’s something we’re both hyper aware of and we take for granted. It’s both abstract and tangible. It’s layered and complex in a beautiful way.

As we make progress and face a multitude of environmental and social challenges, it’s important for us to understand that culture is a driving force behind how we understand these phenomena and respond to them. 

Culture determines how we individually and collectively make sense of the world(s) we inhabit. It’s the common ways of knowing, being, feeling, and experiencing in a group of people. I think of culture as having three main pillars: ethos, expression, and connection. Ethos is concerned with the beliefs, values, and principles guiding a culture. Expression is how the ethos manifests in tangible ways, such as language, dress, food, and rituals. And connection is about the interpersonal dynamics of a culture, such as family systems, conflict resolution, and economic systems.

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We shape and mold culture through individual and collaborative decision making. So whether we're aware of it or not, we're always creating it, we're always perpetuating it. And in turn, it’s always shaping us. It’s really an ecosystem of cause and effect. And this ecosystem isn’t just about individuals and groups of people shaping and being shaped by one culture. It’s also about the multiplicity of cultures interacting all the time and how that strengthens the ecosystem. 

The Multiplicity of Culture

Due to the process of European colonization on Turtle Island / North America

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, Euro-American culture in the U.S. has dominated for hundreds of years. In order for colonization to succeed, it needs to position itself as the best and only cultural option to justify the harms it causes. So the process of colonization includes intentionally oppressing and, at times erasing, the cultures of the people it's colonizing. Globally we’re experiencing this as a loss of human cultural diversity and species diversity.

Any time one culture tries to dominate a nation or the globe, it threatens the ecosystem, both metaphorically and literally. Humans are a part of the earth. We cannot monoculture our cultures without consequence, just as we cannot monoculture our crops without consequence.

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Celebrating the multiplicity of cultures on earth and developing cross-cultural skills is vitally important at this time.

The Power of Culture

The fact that the process of colonization intentionally targets culture tells us just how important culture really is. Culture is the stuff of life. It’s the colors, sounds, and tastes that bring joy and connection and purpose to our daily interactions. It’s the stories that are passed down through generations telling people where they came from and how they’re connected to the place they call home. It’s the way people  disagree and oppose and then return to each other. 

Culture provides a compass and when done in a relational way, a sense of belonging. Being part of a group is an important aspect of the human experience and culture helps us shape groups for belonging. It can be a beautiful thing. It can also be a dangerous thing. Being part of a group and seeking a sense of belonging can encourage people to do harmful things. And of course, there’s a whole spectrum between the beautiful and the harmful that is nuanced and complex. Regardless of where it may fall on that spectrum, culture plays a powerful role in providing connection or disconnection.

The Inevitability of Change

I suspect part of my fascination with culture has come from feeling disconnected from mainstream U.S. culture for most of my adult life. My interest in how we shape culture and in turn, how it shapes us, is born from the desire to feel that sense of belonging and connection without appropriating a culture I may view as more interesting. I don’t think I’m alone in that desire. Colonization yields individualism and disconnection inherently. It’s no surprise that after centuries of global colonization many are struggling to feel connected to themselves and others, and that our environments are struggling with us.

Where I find hope and possibility is in all the work being done to both appreciate the aspects of culture that are beneficial and envision the ways it can be improved upon. Culture is ever-evolving. The question is not whether cultures will change, it is how they will change. So though it may seem like an impossible feat to change culture at a large scale, it’s already happening all the time. All the interactions at the personal, community, and collective levels really do add up to something big. Culture is collaboration. 

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Summary

• Culture is a driving force behind how we understand phenomena and respond to them

• Three pillars of culture are ethos, expression, and connection

• We shape and mold culture through individual and collaborative decision making

• Culture is an ecosystem of cause and effect, it shapes us as we shape it

• Having many cultures strengthens the ecosystem

• Culture plays a powerful role in providing connection or disconnection

• The question is not whether cultures will change, it is how they will change

• Culture is collaboration

1. This explanation is inspired by Julian Huxley’s Components of Culture (1963).

2. Indigenous place names are used alongside Euro-American place names when known. If you know an Indigenous place name that isn’t included, or if you have a correction, please feel free to reach out to me at connect@emilyvolz.com so we can more accurately name places.

3. This concept is inspired by Vandana Shiva’s book Monocultures of the Mind.